Two Queens and a little ferry

Cunard liner Queen Mary 2 leading her sister ship Queen Victoria down Southampton Water on their way to The Solent and beyond, on 22nd April 2008.

It was quite an occasion, advertised locally that this would be the last time the three Cunard Queens would be together in Southampton, so all available vantage points in Southampton, Hythe were packed full of people hoping to take a their sourveier pictures of the luxury ships.

We went to the end of - Calshot Spit -to see them pass, not realising how long it would take them to make the journey down the River Test/Southampton Water. This picture was taken at 19:32, quite late on a misty evening but the sun decided to peek from behind a cloud at this moment, hence the lovely glow.

The smaller vessel just behind and to the left of the Queen Victoria, is the Red Funnel Ferry that travels between Southampton and Ryde, on the Isle of Wight. I think the little boat close to the QM2 is probably the Pilot boat, ready to take the local pilot off and back to port.

This picture is perhaps slightly over-processed, and the noise filtering may have been a bit much, but I wanted to make sure the Queen Victoria, which was probably about half a mile behind the Queen Mary 2 could be seen through the mist.

There'll be more pictures of these vessels for the rest of this week..

Two Queens and a little ferry

Cunard liner Queen Mary 2 leading her sister ship Queen Victoria down Southampton Water on their way to The Solent and beyond, on 22nd April 2008.

It was quite an occasion, advertised locally that this would be the last time the three Cunard Queens would be together in Southampton, so all available vantage points in Southampton, Hythe were packed full of people hoping to take a their sourveier pictures of the luxury ships.

We went to the end of - Calshot Spit -to see them pass, not realising how long it would take them to make the journey down the River Test/Southampton Water. This picture was taken at 19:32, quite late on a misty evening but the sun decided to peek from behind a cloud at this moment, hence the lovely glow.

The smaller vessel just behind and to the left of the Queen Victoria, is the Red Funnel Ferry that travels between Southampton and Ryde, on the Isle of Wight. I think the little boat close to the QM2 is probably the Pilot boat, ready to take the local pilot off and back to port.

This picture is perhaps slightly over-processed, and the noise filtering may have been a bit much, but I wanted to make sure the Queen Victoria, which was probably about half a mile behind the Queen Mary 2 could be seen through the mist.

There'll be more pictures of these vessels for the rest of this week..

Oh Wow Ellie. I spent many a happy childhood holiday down at Southampton Water when staying at my Granny's home. My Grandad worked as an engineer for Harland and Wolfe and often took me to special vantage points within the docks to see the Queens (the old Elizabeth and Mary) come into the Ocean Terminal. Memories I shall never forget.
This is great as well.
By the way Ellie ... good to see you back. richard

EJWilkins: Well, what a coincidence! I'll have to see if I can take some more "Southampton" pictures for you.

Processing doesn't show - the strong composition only makes you think of the subjects. (or are we the subjects?) ;o)

EJWilkins: I'm not a fan of processing, so whatever I do seems to be glaringly obvious. The light was awful, the mist didn't help either. The later pictures show how the conditions and light changed fairly rapidly. But hey, it's something I'm not likely to see again, so I made the most of it

EJWilkins: Sort of 400th There have been a few slotted in at the front of the blog, I'll have to make sure I don't delete or move them too soon, otherwise I'll have another 400th! Thanks for noticing, I hadn't.

400! Can't believe it Ellie and a momentous shot to celebrate with. The mood and tone just wonderful. My brother-in-law used to captain one of the red funnel ferries but is retired now. He probably won't appreciate me telling you this but it was under his command that a red funnel ferry 'crashed' into its dock at Southampton a couple of years back.

EJWilkins: Err, don't believe the 400 Jose - I don't! It seems only a moment since I joined and was terrified to share my very first picture.
I can't imagine your b-in-law would be too thrilled, but yes, I remember the incident
There are a few more of these two ships this week, I hope I did them justice.

I had planned to go and see this myself from Crackmore Hard near Marchwood. I was too tired, though! I could plainly hear all the hooting as I'm only around a mile as the seagull flies from the Cruise Terminal in the Western Docks

EJWilkins: Hythe was apparently closed to traffic from about 15:00, and I have a feeling we got a better view than people in Southampton. I hadn't realised how close they'd come to the shore before turning at the end of the Spit.
D'you fancy a stroll round the Old Cemetery some time? I'd like to start collecting pictures of some of the more important memorials.

Ferry out of Cowes perhaps Could'nt see a thing from this side sadly...

EJWilkins: Ah, Cowes not Ryde - I'll correct it, thanks. We were lucky, Hythe was closed to traffic from about 15:00, we were about the last to get a proper parking space at Calshot, right next to the lifeboat slip. It was a better view than I'd expected, hope you like the next few pictures too.

EJWilkins: Aww, thanks Mal.
My hubby and his family also have links with the sea - merchant fleet from stoker to Chief Engineer/Master, some sad tales from WW2. With PSNC, Royal Mail, Holder Bros and most recently Stena Offshore. All are 'ashore' now.

Wonderful paintings Mal, what a skill.
I can't imagine if any of my pics would be of any use, but he's welcome to use them.

mal

29 Apr 2008, 00:32

P.S. I further commissioned Gordon to paint the cover for my fathers Autobiography/memoirs.